Although Google announced that it stopped allowing political ads in Brazil as of May 1, electoral advertising continues to be marketed and circulated on the platform.

A survey by NetLab at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) shows that at least seven pre-candidates for councilor and mayor bought or aired political or electoral ads in Google search results and on YouTube until last week.

Google had stated that it would no longer allow this type of ad due to new rules from the TSE (Superior Electoral Court). In a February resolution, the court determined that internet platforms that market political or electoral ads would be required to permanently maintain a library with information such as reach and advertising value.

The advertisers identified by NetLab had gone through the verification process by Google's ad network and have a history of boosting political advertising on the company's platforms.

Read the article in the original language